Living at the House

Responsibilities

Waitings – Many fraternities have cooks that they pay to come to their house and prepare their meals for them. Others have catering services that bring them their meals. At our house, we strive to be self-sufficient so we adhere to a system in which every brother is required to be a “waiter” one day a week. We normally have 4 or 5 people waiting each day dinner is served. These people are required to prepare a healthy meal for the rest of the people on the meal plan (usually around 30 people) and ensure that the kitchen is clean after dinner (including washing dishes, mopping, etc). Our steward, the person we put in charge of organizing waitings and purchasing food, makes sure that at least two experienced cooks are on each team in order for waitings to run smoothly. Waitings typically run from 4:30 PM to 7:30 PM. Having this system not only saves money, but also allows us to provide the meal-plan at a fraction of the cost of a campus meal-plan. Additionally, this helps members learn how to cook and to work as a team. Many brothers gain satisfaction from being self-sufficient. For all weekday waitings, dinner is served in the dining room at 6:30 PM.

Cleaning Assignments – Every person who is living in the house is given a weekly assignment that involves cleaning a certain section of one of our three houses. We typically hold cleaning assignments every Sunday at 1:00 PM. During long weekends when many people are typically away, we postpone cleaning assignments to accommodate this. If someone is unable to attend cleaning assignments when they are scheduled, that person may request an assignment that can be done at his convenience.

Committee Meetings – In order to assure that our chapter runs smoothly, each brother is required to participate in a committee. Committees include such items as House Manager, Scholarship, Philanthropy, Activities, Rush, and Social. These committees meet either once a week or once every two weeks, depending on our calendar of events.

Work Week – A week before fall classes begin, all live-in Brothers participate in work week. For 5 days, repairs and construction projects are performed on the house to get it ready for the coming academic year. Beds are built, furniture is repaired or refurbished, and the house is given a thorough scrubbing. It is important that Brothers attend this week to ensure a safe and clean environment for our home. Additionally, this is an excellent week for new live in brothers to get adjusted to their surroundings before classes start.

Academics

Many students are apprehensive about living in the house because they are concerned that the level of distraction would be too high and that it would affect their studies. However, most of the people living in the house have no problem getting work done in their rooms or, if they prefer, the dining room or living room which are often calm and relaxing environments. Many people do work in the common areas to acquire help from people who have experience with what they’re working on. We even have a library in one of our houses which contains desks and internet connections where people often hold group meetings or just go to study or read without any distractions. Perhaps, the greatest testament to our scholarship is reflected by the fact that our house GPA is above the all-men’s average, and are also the 6th highest fraternity GPA on campus. Our brothers have chosen dual majors such as Biochemistry Biophysics, Aero-Mech, and Product Design, and several also choose to pursue fifth year co-terminal degrees.

Risk Management

Safety is one of the top priorities for all of our brothers and their guests. We have regular fire inspections in addition to RPI inspections and insurance inspections. Additionally, the Risk Management Officer and older brothers especially are continually watching out for the well being of both our brothers and the house in general. Risk management is also taken extremely seriously by very brother because, as a fraternity, we have to answer to not only our parents, but also Rensselaer and our Alumni to ensure the future of our chapter. This is what differentiates living in the house from off campus elsewhere; we have something to lose in our charter and many more people watching us to make sure we don’t falter in our duties.

Philanthropy

Philanthropy is another major player in our lives throughout the semester. We strive to give back to the community as much as possible and as so, we participate in several events throughout each semester. Some of these include doing work for Unity House, Habitat for Humanity and Relay for Life. Additionally, we host events such as barbeques, and participate in cleaning up local parks. Each brother is expected to participate in this events as our Landmarks and motto entail.

Sports

We participate in several sports each semester, and encourage all brother to partake, as it is an excellent way to have fun, meet new people, and stay active. Sports include football, soccer, ice hockey, softball, basketball, and volleyball. Additionally, several brothers still find the time to play pickup games of tennis, street hockey, and Frisbee.